✺ SCIENCE 5 YEARS HORIZON RESOLVES 6 NOV 2031 · in 5.0y

A commercially viable fault-tolerant quantum computer is deployed before 2030.

Tech firms and research institutions are developing error-corrected logical qubits to move quantum computing beyond noisy intermediate-scale systems into practical utility.

Across 6 frontier models answering independently, the panel has all but ruled it out: the median is 9%.

They broadly agree, 13 points between GPT at 17% and Claude at 4%.

Nothing is settled until 6 Nov 2031, when the outcome is checked against sources and every number above gets a permanent score.

MODEL BY MODEL

What each one said

  • GPTOpenAI

    It turns on whether logical-qubit scaling and error correction cross from lab demonstrations to reliable economic advantage by 2029.

    • Google, IBM, Quantinuum and others must show sustained logical error suppression, then build and operate far larger machines by 2030.
    • No organization has yet demonstrated the thousands-to-millions of physical qubits and low overhead typically needed for broad fault tolerance.
    • Odds rise sharply if a 2027–28 system runs a valuable, independently verified workload cheaper or better than leading classical hardware.
    openai/gpt-5.6-terra · asked 7 Nov 2026
    17%
  • GrokxAI

    Scaling from ~10 logical qubits to thousands of commercially useful ones in under three years.

    • IBM, Google, Quantinuum and PsiQuantum must ship 1000+ high-fidelity logical qubits plus software by end-2029; current public demos remain 1–2 orders of magnitude short.
    • Historical quantum milestones (50-qubit supremacy, error-corrected logical qubits) have slipped 3–7 years past announced dates, so the 2030 commercial-FTQC target sits…
    • Only an unforeseen hardware leap (photonic or topological) would move the odds; none is visible in 2026 roadmaps or funding.
    x-ai/grok-4.6 · asked 7 Nov 2026
    12%
  • GeminiGoogle

    Physical-to-logical qubit overhead and decoding bottlenecks cannot be resolved and commercially scaled within three years.

    • Roadmaps from IBM, Google, and PsiQuantum slate true fault-tolerant utility around 2029 to 2033, with commercial viability trailing.
    • Hardware requires scaling from tens of logical qubits to hundreds with sub-microsecond decoders, an insurmountable leap by 2029.
    • A peer-reviewed demonstration of quantum advantage on economically relevant algorithms by late 2027 would push odds higher.
    google/gemini-3.8-flash · asked 7 Nov 2026
    9%
  • DeepSeekDeepSeek

    Whether any lab demonstrates a logical qubit with error rates low enough to scale to thousands within three years.

    • Google, IBM, Quantinuum, and PsiQuantum all target fault-tolerant logical qubits by 2029-2030, but none has demonstrated a single logical qubit below the surface-code…
    • The gap from ~100 physical qubits per logical qubit to thousands needed for commercial advantage requires 10-100x improvements in gate fidelity and qubit count, which…
    • A commercially viable machine needs a killer application with quantum advantage; even optimistic roadmaps place useful chemistry or optimization problems in the 2030s…
    deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash · asked 7 Nov 2026
    8%
  • ClaudeAnthropic

    Fault tolerance at commercial scale by 2030 requires orders-of-magnitude error-correction gains that haven't materialized yet.

    • Current best logical qubit counts are in the dozens with error rates still above thresholds needed for sustained commercial advantage.
    • Roadmaps from IBM, Google, and Quantinuum target 2029-2033 for early fault-tolerant systems, not true commercial deployment at scale.
    • A surprise breakthrough in error correction or qubit coherence combined with a killer app could move this, but no such signal exists yet.
    anthropic/claude-sonnet-5 · asked 7 Nov 2026
    4%
  • QwenAlibaba

    Even IBM's aggressive 2029 fault-tolerance target is a lab milestone, not a commercially viable deployment.

    • IBM's Starling roadmap targets 2029 for a fault-tolerant prototype, but 'commercially viable' requires solving real problems for paying customers—a much higher bar.
    • As of late 2025, the best results (Google Willow, Quantinuum) show logical qubits below break-even but at scales far too small for useful computation; scaling to…
    • Expert surveys (McKinsey 2024, BCG) consistently place commercial quantum advantage in the 2030s; a 2029 deployment would require a breakthrough in both hardware and…
    qwen/qwen3.8-max-0902 · asked 7 Nov 2026
    4%

6 of 6 models answered · 13 points between the highest and lowest. None was shown the market price.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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Question sourced from a news sweep on 7 Nov 2026. Forecast by google/gemini-3.8-flash, anthropic/claude-sonnet-5, openai/gpt-5.6-terra, x-ai/grok-4.6, deepseek/deepseek-v4.1-flash, qwen/qwen3.8-max-0902 via OpenRouter.